Managed by BIRN, the SPEAK platform provides a secure and anonymous channel for reporting digital rights violations across the Western Balkans and neighbouring countries, enabling citizens, journalists, and activists to document illegal surveillance, data misuse, online harassment, and disinformation. Using BIRN’s ECR tool, the platform ensures anonymity while exposing how digital abuses increasingly shape civic space. Reported cases reveal common regional patterns: phishing scams, impersonation attempts, and false health alerts in Albania; election-related disinformation and inflammatory political rhetoric in Bosnia and Herzegovina; AI-generated fake images and misleading content targeting political figures and international agreements in Kosovo; spikes in hate speech and online attacks against investigative journalists in Montenegro; ethnic slurs and conspiracy-driven manipulated content in North Macedonia; and persistent online hostility, including threats and campaigns against minorities, in Serbia. BIRN stresses that these violations mirror deeper societal tensions, undermining trust and reinforcing inequalities, underscoring the need for coordinated regional responses, media literacy, and stronger legal accountability. Read more here.
Source and photo credit: BIRN
